Skip to main content

The Rise and Fall of the Bible- A Book Review by Sutton

The Rise and Fall of the Bible: 
the Unexpected History    
of an Accidental Book

By
     
Timothy Beal

  Reviewed By 

Geoffrey W. Sutton

According to Guinness World Records, The Bible is the best selling book- billions have been sold. But that doesn't mean people read the Bible or understand the various texts.  Timothy Beal attempts to educate his readers about the Bible--what it is and how the collection of documents came into existence as one book.

 Timothy Beal, is a Professor of Religion at Case Western Reserve University, offers an informative review of the Bible as a cultural icon. The Bible has image recognition and star quality. It remains a best seller, but Bible reading is minimal even among those described as Bible-believing. As an icon, it is part of American civil life and multiple versions reside on American tables and bookshelves.

In eight chapters, Beal reviews highlights of recent research and scholarship, which are pertinent to the origins of the biblical manuscripts and how they came to be a part of the canon that dominates bestselling versions in the United States. Beal’s analysis explains some misunderstandings about the formation of the various compilations of scripture as revealed in recent national polls. In addition to comments on text formation and selection, he suggests how doctrinal beliefs affected the inclusion or exclusion of various documents or components thereof. He also suggests how some Christian beliefs, based on limited evidence, have gained prominence, especially in the United States.

Beal’s introductory work will be of interest to readers who have not covered a similar history in their education. Academicians may find it a useful adjunct text in a first course on religious studies. 

 Counselors and healthcare workers may find Beal's book about the Bible to be valuable in cases where clients have questions about the application of Scripture to modern life situations. 

 Those interested in a careful analysis of the issues will not find this introductory volume meets their needs.

I particularly found his assessment of the Scriptures as a cultural icon of great interest.  Carefully developed and marketed editions offer American Evangelicals value-laden comments that are metatext supplements designed to meet the perceived needs of select target groups (e.g., youth, singles, military personnel). As the author notes, despite having numerous Bibles in the home, reading of the actual biblical text is not as popular as having a preferred edition on-hand. 

 From the perspective of the Psychology of Religion, two of Beal’s points were of interest. First, his thesis regarding the effect of beliefs on the selection and inclusion or exclusion of various manuscripts is intriguing. Although the collection is fairly stable, scholars continue to make value-biased decisions about including or excluding subsections of old texts and controversial interpretations of select texts. 

 Second, the notion that the Bible is a cultural icon suggests a possibility for research into the interactive effects of the Bible qua holy icon on spiritual experiences independent of the textual content.

FOR RELATED BOOKS,  See Progressive Christianity Book List


Connections

   My Page    www.suttong.com
   My Books   AMAZON     GOOGLE PLAY STORE
   FACEBOOK   Geoff W. Sutton
   TWITTER  @Geoff.W.Sutton

Publications (many free downloads)
  Academia   Geoff W Sutton   (PhD)     
  ResearchGate   Geoffrey W Sutton   (PhD)






Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Denial of Death and the Meaningful Life- Book Review

  The Denial of Death   by Ernest Becker A Review by Geoffrey W. Sutton The prospect of death, Dr. Johnson said, wonderfully concentrates the mind. The main thesis of this book is that it does much more than that: the idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity—activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man.  — Ernest Becker, xvii I completed a recent reading of this old classic yesterday (13 December, 2015) because I was interested in Becker’s contribution to Terror Management Theory, which I find so helpful in understanding the ways U.S. leaders are publicly responding to terrorist activities. Becker’s ideas are more than forty years old and many have not withstood the test of time. However, his basic premise that we deny the reality of death in many ways remains valid
3 comments
Read more

JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE - A book review

  JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE How White Evangelicals        Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation By    Kristin Kobes Du Mez Reviewed by    Geoffrey W. Sutton   Kristin Kobes Du Mez begins and ends her assault on militaristic white American evangelical men with their contemporary sociopolitical leader, former president, Donald Trump. In the Introduction we learn the short doctrinal list of what it means to be a Bible-believing evangelical, but the author posits that American evangelicals are more than a set of theological statements. Instead, since the early 1900s they have embraced a John Wayne view of what it means to be a Christian man—a powerful warrior for country and God—a man who leads his troops into battle to uphold the values of God’s chosen people, the Americans. It was the title, Jesus and John Wayne , that was off-putting. I didn’t grow up with John Wayne films or a love of American westerns. I was after all British and even after living in America, we
Post a Comment
Read more

Why I am not a Christian - Bertrand Russell - A book Review

 Why I Am Not A         Christian By   Bertrand Russell Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton   I am still surprised by the memory of a professor at a highly conservative college who included Russell’s book, Why I am not a Christian as assigned reading in a Philosophy of Christianity class. I don’t recall what the professor said about the collection of essays so many years ago. However, it is a classic work and deserves at least a look by those like me interested in the psychology of religion and related fields like philosophy. The lead essay answers the author’s question in the title. It was presented as a lecture at the Battersea Town Hall (London, England) in 1927. His logical thinking is evident early on as he attempts to define the concept, Christian . He considers a few options and concludes first, that a Christian must believe in God and immortality, and second, a Christian must at least think of Christ as the “best and wisest of men.” The essay proceeds to explain w
Post a Comment
Read more